Charles e



(No Model.)

0. E. SPRAGUE.

OFFICE CHECK 1300K No. 282,393. v Patented July 31, 1883.

N. PETERS. Phulu-Lllhugraphur. wmin wm n. c.

PATENT, OF ICE.

CHARLES E. 'SPRAGUE, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

OFFICE CHECK-BOOK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 282,393, dated July Application filed March 211883 (No model.)

To all whom itmlay concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. SPRAGUE, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Office Check-Books, of which the following is a correct description, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, which form partof this specification.

My improvement is designed to remedy the following defects in the ordinary office check book, and in similar books of detachable blank forms, namely: The ordinary book is-so wide also when closed and placed in the safe.

(the check and its description being on the same piece) that it is very awkward and in convenient when spread open on the desk, and It is difficult to keep flat when opened, and constantly tends to close and blot the writing. If

the checks, when returned, be repasted in their original places, they are very liable to be torn. If the stub of the book is preserved, the covers project too far, unless the book be unitilated by cutting them down. In my improved check-book the record or description of each check is not, as in the ordinary book, made upon the stub or counter-foil which fornis part of the leaf from which the check is torn, and which remains at the back of the book, but upon interposed record-leaves which alternate with the checklcaVes. The stub is narrowed to a strip just sufficient to hold the blank checks in place and its use as awritingsurface is dispensed with. Thus my book contains, first, a record-leaf, then a leaf of deta'chable blank forms, and so on alternately, all these leaves being of thesame dimensions. The width of the book is greatly reduced, and, as will be seen, all the above-mentioned de fects are remedied. The record-leaf which I have invented serves the double purpose of a surface on which to enter the description of the checks and deposits and of a surface on which to paste the checks after they have been returned by the bank as vouchers. In the drawings are shown both of these surfaces.

A is the descriptive page and lies next to the faces of the checks. It contains, as shown under the heading Checks, proper spaces for entering the amount, date, number, name of payee, and any other desired information regarding each check. As shown under De posits, it also contains a space or column for entering deposits or other charges against the bank. These two columns form a complete account, by debit and credit, between the bank and the depositor. The page marked 1, which lies next to the back of the checks, is used for holding the returned checks. The lines m n m n serve as a guide for applying the adhesive substance, and this may be done either at the time of fastening or previously. In Figure 2 the uppermost check is represented as having been thus refastened face downward, so as to show the indorsements. Only one end being made fast, the faces may also be examined, if desired. Beside this use of the page B, another use is illustrated under the heading Balances in Fig.1, where the current balance in bank may be at all times shown, each deposit being added and each check subtractedin succession. Other records temporary in their nature, or subsidiary to the principal record on page A, may also be kept on page B.

My invention is applicable not only to checkbooks, but to other books of blank formssuch as drafts, bills of exchange, notes, receipts,. and certificates of deposit.

I do not claim, broadly, that interposed rec blank forms are of .my invention.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Let ters Patent, is as follows:

A bookcomposed of leaves of detachable blank forms alternating with permanent record-leaves, each record-leaf having one of its sides prepared for receiving the records of the "checks or other documents,and having the ord-leaves of the same size as the leaves of 

